Balance of Food

Bourdain Day 2023: Celebrating a loss with food

Journalists work hard not to be the story. Anecdotal stories are nice yet not very insightful. On Bourdain Day 2023 (which is Sunday), this story is anecdotal, hoping this can inspire others.

Anthony Bourdain kept pouring into my head last month after my long estranged brother passed away. Like Bourdain, the end path to escape this world was sufficiently similar.

I ended up inheriting a few food-related items: some food, a heavy cast iron pan, and a Le Crueset dutch oven. The latter 2 items were on the stove, like they were ready to be used really soon.

When we went through the kitchen, there was a porcelain doll. His friends said her name was Gladys. I said, "oh, after our grandmother." The people in the kitchen didn't know who Gladys was.

Speaking of cast iron pans, I fondly remember Gladys making sausage biscuit gravy in a cast iron pan when we were kids. I didn't even know this existed before she made the dish. The dish was glorious. My mother (daughter of Gladys) was surprised how much we both loved the sausage biscuit gravy. My mother never made that for us, maybe because she knew her version would pale by comparison. I still remember that sausage biscuit gravy with great fondness.

The fact that we held our grandma in high regard is part of the cooking legacy for both of us.

Turns out, my brother and I both loved cooking Italian food despite the fact that neither of us had a drop of Italian blood. We both grew up on Ragu spaghetti sauce and Kraft already grated Parmesan cheese in the green cylinder so we both took great lengths to escape that childhood path. We both learned what a real ragu is in Italy.

My brother was known for making Sunday gravy. This is ironic a bit given that Bourdain Day is on a Sunday this year. A long cooking sauce to break down the connective tissue of the meat in the sauce. That would have been a good memory of cooking in the kitchen.

The Bourdain No Reservations episode in Naples is worth the watch to see an Italian grandma making a Sunday gravy.

The reality is that if I were the one cooking the Sunday gravy, my brother would tell me everything I was doing that was wrong. The definition of "wrong" was doing things differently than how he would make the dish. That would not make such a good memory.

Using his cookware. Eating his food. This will spark thoughts about him as treasures will do. That is a good legacy, whatever our differences might have been.

Anthony Bourdain talked often about eating with people he might have disagreed on numerous fronts. Food brings people together, which is why we celebrate Bourdain Day each year on his birthday on June 25.

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On the second Bourdain Day, how Anthony Bourdain would handle a worldwide pandemic

Bourdain Day is a way to celebrate the love of food and food cultures

The mourning process has as many layers as 3 pieces of baklava stacked up on a plate, even if you are estranged. I love the idea of enjoying his Sunday gravy at the same table with him. A nice Italian loaf made into garlic bread by rubbing a split garlic clove over the bread to fare la scarpetta. That is the act of mopping up every drop of the sauce with the bread.

We both learned that ritual at a homemade Italian restaurant in the small town where we grew up. Not that either of us knew the word scarpetta as kids. I do love that sauce and the memories behind that sauce.

The conversation might have pleasant tones here and there. Most of the conversation would be critical thoughts and observations that unfortunately dominated a lot of conversations we did have. Still, the idea of having homemade Sunday gravy with him would be worth that risk.

The best I can hope for is to make Sunday gravy with that Le Crueset dutch oven and think of my brother. Sure, there would have been criticism of how my version was inferior by comparison. I wouldn't expect any less.

From what we could tell, Anthony had a good relationship with his younger brother, Christopher. Not a perfect relationship but reasonably good. I've been thinking about Christopher, now having a better idea of what he has gone through. A lot of differences and similarities. My sibling likely loved Anthony Bourdain and saw him as a role model. We had that in common, if my assumption is correct. If nothing else, we could have traded our favorite Bourdain adventures over Sunday gravy.

I do promise that I will have good memories every time I use something food-related that belonged to my brother. That is a legacy I can appreciate.

photo credit: me (x3); Instagram Anthony Bourdain

Demand for food banks may not be visible but is ever increasing

"Why is he still complaining about food insecurity and the need for food banks? The economy is doing really well. Those long lines during the pandemic. That was just the pandemic."

We wrote about those long lines 3 years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic. We thought these images would make a meaningful impact: spotlighting the number of people who are getting in long lines, lining up hours before the food banks open up.

"Let us remember these images when the pandemic subsides. Hunger is real for a lot of people. They should feel no shame for getting help."

So where are we in 2023?

"We used to spend $1.5 million per year on purchasing food. We spend now up to 1.8 million per month on food." — Neil Hetherington, CEO of the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto.

Imogen Birchard, a producer on Front Burner from CBC News, pointed out in her story that "In March, when Canada's unemployment rate was hovering at a near record low of 5%, the Daily Bread Food Bank broke their monthly record with 270,000 client visits up from 60(,000) to 70(,)000 pre-pandemic."

Congressional Republicans decided that too many people on food assistance needed to get off the rolls. The age was raised to 55 from 49 for adults without children to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for 3 months in a 3-year period unless they work a minimum of 20 hours per week.

This was part of the debt ceiling deal where the Republicans blackmailed the White House to get this concession. Let's not forget that in a "good" economy, people 50-54 already have trouble getting hired.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in new research said the change could result in almost 750,000 adults ages 50 to 54 losing their federal food assistance.

The White House did get work requirements waived for veterans, individuals who are homeless or facing housing instability, and youth aging out of foster care.

3 months of help, not much help within that amount, over a 3-year period when a lot of people can't find regular work. That feels cruel in an actually good economy, which isn't what we have now.

Even if they do find work, hours can easily be cut to below 20 hours a week, putting their limited benefits in danger through no fault of their own.

The numbers show the need is growing for people who work full time. Even with that level of income, some people are struggle to make ends meet without food assistance.

"The greatest concern and that that I want to impart is unemployment is low. And if we get to a situation where combating inflation through higher interest rates results in a slowing down of the economy and increased unemployment rates, we will be in a state that food banks have never been in before. Well, we're there now, but we will be. It's a crisis on a crisis on a crisis, and we're just getting to that third one." — said Hetherington.

While we dispute the employment numbers in both Canada and the United States, Hetherington makes a good point in one regard. A bad situation will become worse if (when?) employed people get tossed out of their jobs.

Food banks are dealing with one variable that usually isn't a factor. The rising costs of food mean they can't buy as much food for the same amount of money. Their food dollars don't go as far, just like their clients.

France has rules on supermarkets to reduce food waste. Spain was working on a similar law. Farmers struggle to get all their crops picked due to worker shortages.

Food banks now more important than ever in COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

A "capitalist" society struggles with the idea of making sure people can get food because there must be payment. Food being wasted. People desperately needing food. We should make this work.

"I've tossed the idea by the board of directors of maybe we should you know, we have 200 food banks in the city of Toronto maybe we should shut them down and just distribute food at one location until government policy changes and that location being City Hall or Queen's Park. And and so if you need food and we serve about 12,000 per day, the 12,000 people would be inconvenienced and they'd have to come to two to Queen's Park to pick up their food. And we would do that every single day, every single day, until policy change happens. That's not like us. That's, you know, we're not that kind of an organization. But at some point we have to say enough is enough." — said Hetherington.

The lines from 2020 were a visual reminder of the impact of food insecurity in rich countries. Hetherington is suggesting another visual impact. Queen's Park is where the Ontario provincial government meets.

"But at some point we have to say enough is enough." Will that be enough for us to see what is happening with food insecurity? Should we do better before then?

photo credit: Neil Blake/Grand Rapids Press/AP